The clock in the Alchemy classroom ticked steadily away. The three hours allotted for the qualifying round were almost up, and students were finishing their work one by one.
Leman Selwyn, a seventh-year Slytherin, picked up his three items and headed toward the podium. Seeing another contestant coming up to submit their work, Lucian pointed to the parchment and quill on the desk.
"Sign your name first," Lucian said.
With a simple wave of his hand, Lucian made the three items hover in a row in front of him. He inspected them meticulously, jotting down notes on his clipboard every few moments.
Watching Lucian grade him, Leman felt an odd sense of anxiety. Wait, I'm the senior here! he thought. Why am I the one being tested by a younger student?
Leman came from the Selwyn family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Their family's reputation was built on Alchemy and Potions. Between his natural talent and his family's rigorous training, Leman had been confident about breezing through the Hogwarts qualifiers.
In reality, very few students truly understood Alchemy. Leman figured he was easily among the top three in the sixth and seventh years. Since there were two spots available for the qualifiers, his chances had looked great.
But then Lucian showed up out of nowhere. He was only a second-year, but he had basically locked down one of the spots. Leman couldn't help but think it would've been nice if the kid had left the opportunities to his elders. Now, with only one spot left, the pressure was on.
This exchange competition was a major event hosted by the three biggest wizarding schools in Europe. A tournament of this scale hadn't been held in a century. For a Slytherin, the allure of winning that kind of glory was impossible to resist.
Thinking about glory made Leman's expression turn a bit sour. The younger student currently grading him had just received an Order of Merlin, First Class. That was the kind of honor that made every Slytherin green with envy.
"Is there something you'd like to say, Leman?" Lucian asked, looking up after finishing his notes. He'd noticed the older boy's face twisting through a range of complicated emotions.
Leman flinched slightly and quickly cleared his throat to compose himself. "Cough—no, nothing. I just... I wanted to ask how I did."
Lucian looked him over for a moment, set down his clipboard, and said in a friendly tone, "Your work is very polished, and you finished quickly. I'll be announcing the results shortly. You can head back to your seat for now."
Since Lucian's answer was basically "wait and see," Leman had no choice but to take his projects and sit back down.
Lucian checked the clock and saw there were only ten minutes left, so he gave the room a final time warning. Looking down at his clipboard, which was filled with a detailed list of scoring criteria and deductions, he shook his head with a sigh.
He'd had to come up with these criteria on the fly. Professor Shafiq had disappeared so fast he hadn't left behind any grading standards at all.
Fortunately, Lucian was used to tutoring Harry and the others—assigning homework and writing tests had become second nature. Combined with his own mastery of Alchemy, coming up with a hundred different grading points wasn't exactly difficult.
Lucian scanned the room. There weren't many people participating in the qualifiers. Alchemy is a notoriously difficult subject that requires a certain level of innate talent. Beyond that, it's expensive. Basic theory is fine, but if you want to actually practice and get good, the cost of materials becomes a massive financial burden.
As a result, most of the contestants Lucian saw were from wealthy, pure-blood families.
His mind began to drift toward Beauxbatons, a school he'd never visited. He was genuinely curious how they managed to introduce Alchemy to younger students and make it accessible to so many more people.
Maybe I should pick their brains, he thought. It might be worth bringing some of those ideas back to Hogwarts.
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